off with her head

22 August 2004

So I’m heading for bed last night after watching Australia lose the Tri-Nations (yes! yessss! If New Zealand can’t win, then Australia must lose!) and Mr. T is already fast asleep. So what if he’d spent the whole morning training; I will not listen to petty excuses. Anyway, I woke him up slightly as I came into the room. Not enough to actually rouse him, it seems; just enough to get him talking.

Mr. T: “Haarg … down the middle … so I said …”

Me: “Hee! You’re sleep-talking.”

Mr. T: “NO … wasn’t through morfl … cut your head off …”

Me: “OK. You have to WAKE UP NOW. You just threatened to cut my head off.”

Mr. T: “NOOOOO … cut the GOLD off …”

Me: “This is not helping. Wake up NOW. You are freaking me out.”

And of course he remembers none of it. I find it quite unnerving hearing people sleep-talk anyway; it always smacks of horror movies to me, the eerie lack of consciousness behind the words. But decapitation sleep-talking? Whole new level of bizarre.

4 comments to off with her head

I just discovered that I too sleep-talk. I was a little bit alarmed at the fact, until I realized the many uses of “sleep-talking”.Basically, if people know I sleep talk, then I can also pretend to sleep talk. Pretty sweet huh? Who is going to suspect when they hear someone sleep-talking that the person is actually awake and making it up and just pretending to sleep-talk? Think of all the various applications for this.I could say anything and anyone who heard me would think it was coming from the deepest recesses of my unconcious mind. I haven’t tried it yet, but I think its going to be a lot of fun.

I sleep talk. Only in recent years have i done it. Sometimes i have a vague feeling that i have said something or had a conversation with someone, much like when someone calls you in the middle of the night whilst you are in your deepest sleep and you answer it, have a short convo, then pass out in bed again. only not to recall anything that happened

I tend to do that too, but lately its gotten worse. Most recently, I was told I attended a birthday party. I have no memory of attending this birthday party. Absolutely none. Nothing!I really don’t think I was there, so I’ve asked for photographic evidence of me there. I really hope I wasn’t there. It disturbs me to think that I could completely forget an entire party.Memory is a tricky thing.

I’ve never sleep talked but I tend to have vivid dreams. My brother, on the other hand, ran screaming “the boxes” from our room one night when we were young. I was deputised to go find him (it was pretty common) and once I did, in a fit of petty sadism, I managed to convince his semi-awake form that the cupboard was his “new bedroom”. He slept there the rest of the night. I got told off, but slept well.

"Make a remark," said the Red Queen: "Its ridiculous to leave all conversation to the pudding!"